Maintaining a reliable clean available source of drinking water is crucial for the survival of animals. This is difficult in remote locations without a natural water supply and especially during winter months where there is a potential for source water to freeze solid.
Typically, domestic animals, whether pets or livestock, are left unattended for extended periods of time during the day or even over the course of several days. In order to meet the feeding needs of the animals, a common practice is to minimally leave a supply of water in a location accessible to animals allowing them to drink at will from the supply.
In order to provide animals with needed water during winter months, it is known to equip exterior watering systems with heating systems to prevent the contained water therein from icing over during cold temperatures. In some waterers, heating systems may be in the form of oil lamps. In more modern waterers, electric heating systems may be affixed to the fresh water delivery element, drinking receptacle, or integrated by other means. In the even of heating system failure, replacement can be difficult due to freezing and possibly require total replacement of the waterer due to an integrated heating design. Nipple style waterers are difficult to keep from freezing when the nipples are remote from the heat source. Geothermal designs tend to be a more permanent installation frequently requiring a plumbed water supply.
Failure of the heating system typically results in an iced or frozen waterer in below freezing environments. Restoring a failed system to properly flow water after repairs can be a difficult, or impossible as in the case of cracked or broken fresh water storage devices or drinking receptacles. The repair process may require much time, may require relocating the system to an above freezing environment, and may be too heavy to relocate easily for repair. The opportunity for discomfort for the operator (spilled water for example) or potential injury (heavy lifting of a filled or frozen water system) make an alternate design more desirable. A failed water system may result in animals that may become diseased, dying, or dead.
Many systems may be materially inferior due to breakage if they become brittle as a result of prolonged UV light exposure, or prolonged freeze/thaw cycles. Waterer materials selected, water source, and environment can influence corrosion, mineral deposits, and contaminants providing a means to restrict or inhibit water flow through the level metering device and other service elements. Service procedures and access of the elements may be difficult often requiring draining of the system, disassembly, and servicing from within the water reservoir. Often this requires the waterer be inverted and/or drained for service, resulting in spilled or wasted water, potentially risking injury to the operator. Many waterers don't provide a means for draining. Potential failure components of such systems may be difficult to service, and often systems may be immobile due to design or physical size and weight. Many use heating systems utilizing electric heating elements attached to framing or similar structural components that are not temperature regulated resulting in inefficient operation and may expose animals to a threat of electrocution or shock in the even of failure. Normal waterer use may cause contaminants (calcium) to build in the drinking receptacles which may be difficult to clean and service. Contaminants may be in the form of living organisms such as algae, bacteria, or other biologicals that can pollute the drinking water, and potentially the fresh water source as the drinking water may maintain contact with the supply water.
Other waterers may not fully guard the water metering system from animals, may not protect the waterer from damage during use, may rely on restrictive openings limiting animal varieties that can use the waterer, may rely on a pump supplied water source from underground or an exposed hose that can be damaged by animals, may rely on recirculating systems, or other mechanisms such as a vacuum break feature requiring a high degree of maintenance or which may be prone to failure, especially in harsh environments. Many waterers use construction elements not suitable for human potable water standards. There are growing contamination concerns that chemicals within materials selected leach into drinking water allowing unwanted chemicals to remain with the animals serviced by the waterer.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,735,455 B2 (Jun. 15, 2010 to Benjamin T. Clark, Jr.)—Farm Innovators Electric Heated Poultry Font—Plastic—Limited to 0° F. temperature. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Must tip over to fill. Cleaning requires getting wet or must tip over. Sits on the ground. Chickens or fowl only. No drain, filter, or shut off. Drinking Receptacle limits animal use.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,826,859 B1 (Sep. 9, 2014 to Harris Farms LLC) Animal Drinker bucket. Made of plastic makes it easily broken. Made for chickens or fowl only. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. It is not heated. Fill from open top. No drain, filter, or shut off. Drinking receptacle limits animal use.
U.S. Pat. No. 723,651 (Nov. 18, 1902 to S. E. Cogswell) Not heated—basic vacuum break/gravity feed. No filtering or float control. Must tip over to fill. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. No drain, filter, or shut off. Drinking receptacle limits animal use to small bowl.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,042,040 (Nov. 18, 1911 To A. Schreck) Vacuum Break/Gravity design—Must tip over to fill. Labor required to re-assemble. Not Heated. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Chickens only. No drain, filter, or shut off. Drinking Receptacle limits animal use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,082,535 (Jun. 6, 1914 to W. H. Guthrie) uses lamp oil heat. Has heat conduit surrounding discharge pipe. Fasteners to be removed to access heat source. Vacuum break design. Restrictive animal drinking receptacles. No drain, filter, or shut off. Fill from top. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Drinking receptacle limits animal use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,121,528 (May 28, 1911 to C. W. Mueller) Not heated—rods connected permanently to water trough. Harder to maintain. For poultry only. Tie rings and threaded design for suspension use in train cars etc. No drain, filter, or shut off. Must tip over to fill. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Drinking receptacle limits animal use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,220,404 (Nov. 22, 1916 to A. N. Eaton) Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Has shut off valve. Lamp oil heated. No drain. Fill from Top. Drinking Receptacle limits animal use. The design focus is on stock, not poultry.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,341,919 (Jan. 24, 1919 L. C. McCartney) Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Has suspended water tank and shut off valve. Lamp oil heated with no drain. Fill from top. Drinking receptacle limits animal use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,438,770 (Jun. 5, 1922 to C. Long) uses float valve and strainer—lamp oil heated—difficult to service. Requires disassembly. Must reach into water chamber to service strainer. Drinking receptacle limits animal use. Fill from top. No Drain. Designed for livestock focus.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,460,702 (Feb. 28, 1922 to S. P. Caltrider et. al.) Vacuum Break design, Leave in place or portable to fill—top component removes for filling—openings limit animal use—not heated. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Drinking Receptacle limits animal use. Poultry only. Water sits on ground level.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,824,154 (Mar. 7, 1930 to C. Johnson et. al.) Spring vacuum break. Typical of Little Giant™ double wall fonts of various fluid capacities. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Drinking Receptacle limits animal use. Poultry only. No heat.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,366 (Mar. 20, 1951 to W. F. Cleveland) Electrically heated with float assembly—no filter, water supply through hose or underground supply. Thermostatically controlled. Heating element integral to design—difficult to service. Heater immersed in reservoir and wrapped around feed line. Reservoir difficult to clean—requires disassembly. Corrosion of slide lid makes it difficult to operate over time. Animals can walk on and damage reservoir rendering sliding lid inoperable. Drinking water isolated from supply water. Supply water from underground source. Drinking water receptacle rests at ground level.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,004 (Sep. 4, 1957 to C. H. Bruns et. al.) This reference is perhaps the closest known prior art. It is a livestock waterer with a float operated running double acting valve and seat assembly (two areas to fail). It has a strainer and fill from top. Not serviceable if frozen. Hard to service if parts fail. Hard to service strainer if clogged. Must drain water, but this requires tipping unit over if clogged. Openings limit animal use. Resting on ground can cause corrosion losing integrity of water holding chamber. Heater not temperature controlled. Wear items difficult to replace or source. Springs support heating element which are a failure and maintenance issue. Supply water somewhat isolated from drinking water. Not a submersible heater—potential for failure not safe for animals—electric shock. Heating element is between water source and drinking water. Has headers or openings for animals to drink. Requires draining tank (no means provided) in order to change heating element. Tank otherwise must be moved when full to replace heater. Fill from top.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,269,874 (Nov. 2, 1915 to E. O. Soucy) is lamp oil heated. Drinking water is isolated from supply water. It has drain, but difficult to service. It has a float but no strainer or shut off. Fill from top.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,458,450 (Jan. 20, 1920 to J. W. Under et al) is oil lamp heated tank with small cap and isolation rod for filling. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Fill from top. Poultry only are watered.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,922,612 (Jan. 7, 1922 to H. J. Barker) is similar to a Mason Jar Font with very small volume. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Tip over to fill. Poultry only are watered.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,573,802 (Mar. 17, 1950 to W. D. Mitchell) has a Mason Jar Font. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Tip over to fill.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,584,383 (Apr. 15, 1947 to J. F. Feck) Little Giant™ vacuum break implemented with a hole. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Poultry only. Tip over to fill.
U.S. Pat. No. 317,439 (Aug. 9, 1963 to H. Juenger) Electric heated Mason Jar Bird waterer. Drinking water remains in contact with supply water. Disassembly to fill. Tip over to fill.
Other commercially available designs include Little Giant™ Miller Manufacturing Automatic Poultry Waterer Item 166386 with a hose feeding a float valve assembly.
What is needed in the art is a reservoir protected from the watering trough. The reservoir, the plumbing and the trough must be freeze proof. An easily maintained filter is needed. A hose feed is needed. A hose cleaning mode is needed. Easy maintenance and drainage is needed. The present invention meets all these needs.